Trial postponed for Vereb in pet cremation scandal

Court proceedings are scheduled to take place in front of a jury in June.

By TAWNYA PANIZZI
TribLive

Alleged victims of Patrick Vereb, the man accused of taking money for pet cremations and disposing of the animals in landfills, will have to wait a bit longer for his trial.

The 71-year-old from Hazelwood was scheduled Thursday for a non-jury trial in Allegheny County Court.

That has been pushed back to early June and changed to a jury trial, according to court documents.

His attorney, Louis Emmi, was not immediately available for comment.

Vereb is charged by the state Attorney General’s Office with taking money for pet cremations but disposing of the animals in landfills.

He also is accused of giving customers ashes that weren’t from their pets. Vereb faces felony charges of theft by deception, receiving stolen property and deceptive business practices.

Vereb is expected in court for status hearings on March 18 and May 6 before Judge Jaime Hickton. His trial is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. June 3.

Vereb owned funeral and pet cremation services in Harrison and Hazelwood. He is accused of scamming more than 6,500 people with deceptive pet aftercare, according to authorities.

The Attorney General’s Office declined a TribLive request for comment.